Some presenters might buckle under the pressure of following the abrasive vortex that is Nick Ferrari each morning, especially when LBC - which turned 35 last week and uses the letters LBC whenever possible - promises that the show will be "London's Biggest Conversation".

But not James O'Brien. Blessed with the thick skin and healthy self-regard that the phone-in host requires, he fully imposes himself on the airwaves for three hours. This is how brashly confident he is, or how effective at winding up his audience. After outlining his position on cannabis at length, O'Brien told his listeners yesterday: "If you know anything about it, you'll be sitting there nodding."

His style is very similar to Johnny Vaughan's, and a little bit of it goes rather a long way, but there are some likable aspects to the show. He is never a presenter to use one syllable where several can be slipped in ("nomenclature", "fulminations", "admonishments"); he is unafraid to criticise the Daily Mail, which he describes as being "particularly irrational" on the cannabis issue; and he admitted that he got it wrong with one topic. "I know nothing," he conceded. "You are making me look like a right ignoramus."